After a severe production delay, the first issue of the official Cartoon Action Hour e-magazine is ready to give fans a heaping dose of cartoon RPG goodness. The premiere issue of After These Messages can be purchased from the Z-Man Games website (www.zmangames.com), as well as from RPGnow (www.rpgnow.com).

Spectrum Game Studios vice-president Eddy Webb says, "The page count is double our original estimate, containing 45 pages of articles about Cartoon Action Hour. It includes new rules for space combat, and a totally new series called 'Galactic Heroes', which is where Kargorr made his animated debut. We're already working on the next issue of ATM, and are looking for talented writers and artists who wish to contribute!" Anyone interested in contributing to "After These Messages" should send email to babycindi@cox.net.

Unfortunately, the same production problems has delayed the release of the first two "hardcopy" suppliments of their line, "Darkness Unleashed" (originally due in May 2003) and "Metal Wars" (originally due in July 2003). "Darkness Unleashed" and "Metal Wars" are both 64 page Series Books for Cartoon Action Hour, detailing a complete cartoon world for the game while exploring the nuances of various cartoon genres (paramilitary action and giant transforming robots, respectively). Written by the creators themselves, they contain rules, characters, and lots of information useful to both players and Game Masters of Cartoon Action Hour.

"We sincerely apologize for the delay on these products", says Zev Shlasinger, president of Z-Man Games. "We've run into some unforseen problems at the production stage, and couldn't get the books done by deadline because of circumstances beyond our control. We feel that our fans should know that we have a new plan to get these products out to our fans in a reasonable timeframe."

Cynthia Celeste Miller, president of Spectrum Game Studios and co-creator of Cartoon Action Hour, explains. "We wanted to try to have both books available for release at GenCon Indy, but also wanted these books to be the best quality they can be. We're really unhappy about the unforseen delay of the books, but we would prefer to make sure that they are done well, rather than quickly. Right now, we are expecting 'Darkness Unleashed' to be available in August, and 'Metal Wars' in late September."

More information about these releases, as well as Cartoon Action Hour, can be found at the official Cartoon Action Hour website, at http://www.zmangames.com/CAH/.